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I’ve always been a positive person. I wake up feeling happy and look forward to seeing what the day is going to bring me (and what I will bring to it). If someone ever gave me a set of pajamas that say ‘Don’t Talk To Me Until I Have My Coffee’ they wouldn’t know me well at all. I like to think I am ‘realistically positive’. Not the type of positive that you want to kick in the teeth. There are things I find hard to be positive about – winter for one. There is a whole lot of ugly commentary that goes on in my head surrounding winter. But then I am able to move on from it as my it is my choice to live in a part of the world where winter happens. I remember going to my confirmation classes with our priest and one of the boys asked facetiously ‘Father, do I have to confess EVERY dirty thought I have?’ to which Father MacDonald replied ‘If you confessed you that you had 13 dirty thoughts today I would beat you and say I had 19’. Kind of like dirty thoughts – everyone has negative thoughts.

I’ve noticed something lately though and it is eating at my positive self. Media and social media has caused our society to become this cesspool of negativity. Trump consumed people for months and the media/people posted every awful thing he said or did. It was as if the world was ending. Post after post of hysteria. Police officers, drivers, developers, healthcare – no one is safe from this online judgement. Where I live there is the threat of a teachers strike right now. There is work to rule action in place – meaning that teachers are only doing what their contract binds them to do. It seems every other person is posting some awful accusation or critical viewpoint of teachers or the government. It is as if social media has given all of those ugly inner thoughts we have a place to be displayed and confessed. In the past it meant going over to someone’s house to talk or writing a letter to the paper or going to a public political meeting. It takes balls to get up in front of a group to speak publically about a criticism you may have and it takes skill to write a well crafted letter which the paper will print. It doesn’t take much courage or skill to post negative/critical comments online. In fact, any donkey or educated person (who statistically are actually the most critical) with an internet connection can do it. Just like the earlier mentioned dirty thoughts – not every thought you have needs to be confessed.

It is the holiday season. A time when we are historically especially stressed. And we all know what stress does: it brings those ugly-inner-critical-of-others-thoughts closer to the surface. We are rushing around searching for presents, getting groceries, travelling. Here are a few facts: it is going to be busy. The parking lot is going to be full. There are going to be lines. And if you’re travelling the airlines might lose your luggage. But what we must remember is that we are choosing to do whatever it is that we are doing. Set yourself up for success. Have a drink before you go. Go for a run. Get laid. Whatever it takes to get you into a good frame of mind. Don’t go to Costco at 2 pm on a Saturday.

I hope reading this has encouraged you to think before you speak, post or share. The fact is: teachers are people who also have children, politicians are people we voted into power, you’ve been the person who didn’t see the light turn green and should remember how jarring it is to have someone blare their horn at you, you’ve been helped by a police officer before and our healthcare system has saved the life of someone you love. I know you’re better than that. Come on team let’s look on the bright side of things. You’re alive. Use your input in a more powerful way.